TOLEDO -- Just three weeks after a fatal stabbing on campus, university officials held a town hall meeting to reassure students they are safe.
Police received a 911 call, on the evening of Dec. 19, 2012, from a person driving by the International House residence hall on the university's main campus. When police arrived they found Erik Littleton, 19, outside the dorm suffering from serious injuries, according to UT Chief of Police, Jeff Newton. After securing the scene, officers located Josiah Galat, 20, deceased on the backside of the dorm. Not long after, police were able to determine a stabbing had taken place between just these two individuals.
Galat and Littleton were both engineering students who had also lived next to each in a different residence hall during the fall semester. The two had chosen to live together in the International House during the winter break.
In a town hall meeting with members of the UT community on Tuesday, officials pressed that the incident was an isolated incident and one that could not have been avoided with increased security measures. "Josiah and Eric were friends," said Newton. "(The incident) was very much like a domestic violence situation, minus the romance."
UT President Lloyd Jacobs told those gathered that the university has one of the safest campuses in the midwest. "Statistically speaking, this is a safe campus," said Jacobs. "However, in modern society and, I suspect, over the course of history, human beings are unpredictable."
Galat's cause of death has been ruled a homicide; however, school officials urge students and parents not to mistake that to mean a murder took place. Newton says the coroner declared the death a homicide to indicate someone else caused it and to rule out suicide or accidental death. Galat, a senior majoring in Engineering, is said to have died from stab wounds to each side of his neck.
A sophomore, Littleton, according to university officials, spent a number of weeks at an area hospital and is now recovering at home. No charges have been filed as authorities continue to investigate the incident.
University officials have confirmed that Galat and Littleton had invited a guest to the dorm earlier that evening, but that the guest was not a witness to or a part of the assault. "I am 100% certain...that person was not a part of the assault," said Newton. That visitor, Alexander Vogel, 18, was taken into custody by police when they responded to the incident. He was later charged with disorderly conduct.
Police Chief Newton reassured students that rules are in place to promote safety campus-wide. Newton says they have not ruled out if alcohol or drugs were a factor. Toxicology tests will determine that. He also said the knife used in the incident was not permitted on campus. School officials also made clear that the safety of students is their primary concern. Cameras are installed at the entrances and exits of all residence halls and the university is looking into the possibility of restricting access hours at those entry points.
Yet, officials continue to stress that the stabbing was an isolated incident. "An outlier instance like this probably wouldn't have been protected by additional security measures," said Jacobs. "Living on this campus is a safe environment."
"The most important thing for students to know is that we care about them and we are here for them," said Kaye Patten Wallace, UT's Vice President for the Student Experience.
As the investigation continues, Newton says from all of this the university's community will learn something. "These were good citizens. Their actions were not indicative of their normal personalities," he said. "After the investigation I am confident there will be something students can take away from this."
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